Advice heavily needed

Right now I have been playing for about 3 years on a Fender P Bass. Now I have finally decided to buy a new, better bass.

I like the Music Man Bongo HH, Music Man Stingray5, the Warwick Corvette, Fender Active P Bass, Fender American P Bass, Fender VI Zone Bass, Fender Mustang Bass, and this hand made luther bass I found at Guitar Center here in Georgia.

I just don't know which one I like the most and I can not decide which one I am going to buy. I play a lot of Prog/Punk/Classic/Oldies/Jazz/Blues/Ska but I haven't really payed attention to the instruments that are good all rounders.

I just want to know which of these basses you would recommend or anyothers that you would suggest, although I have to say now that I dislike Ibanez and B.C. Rich upfront.

Well the thing I dislike about the American P Bass is the colors; thats about the same thing with most basses I am looking at. I like the natural wood color of my present bass although it seems its so hard to find, thats why I like the Corvette, although the Corvette doesn't have a pick guard, and trust me, I need it. I use metal picks made out of recycled Symbols which give me that real heavy ska bass sound, but when I play some millencolin songs like move your car, I sometimes trash it, I think I'm on my 6th pick guard, ha!

Now for the SR4, what kind of sound does that give, I haven't really played a SR because I heard the Bongo HH with its duel Humbuckers was the better deal.

Stingrays have a hi-fi bridgey sound. Definitely modern and growly. P's have a much fatter neck tone, but SR's growl like crazy and sound clearer and more defined, maybe. Neither has much tonal variety, but the SR has a bit more than the P due to its active electronics. However I like the P for its pure, thick tone.

Warwicks have a dry, growly tone. I'm not sure what kind of pickups the Corvette in question has... if they're J pickups, expect clarity and treble. Warwicks in general tend to have a modern, darkish sound with treble, whereas a Fender will have more lows and mids. I always liked the Warwick growl but to me, they don't have enough low end warmth.

So I justified my choice for the P, I think. It's up to you which to choose. Fenders are usually warmer and more vintage, while SR's are hi-fi and modern, with a clear tone. Warwicks are dry and dark with a lot of growl. Hope it helps.

Thanks, you turned me away from the Warwick. The only reason I even took intrest in it was because of the look, although it is more of a modern sounding.

Music Man I am still interested in the lack of feed back, but as you said it is the active electronics,

The Fender company I trust. The onlything is they are not really known for their active pick ups.

I like the Zone and Active P because they have the two different types of pick ups and are active. Although they seem to feel lighter than my present bass, I like weight. I like to have the feeling that the big Bass sound is coming from a big bass.

I have been reading on a B neck or something. I read that it is about $100 cheaper and its more of an action neck. I'm not sure if that lowers its life span, because I only change my stings once a year, new pick guard about once year, and a pro repair on the pic ups about once in a blue moon.

I think the fender vintage sound is something I need although I have also taken a look at the new Line 6 bass. It is suppose to have some SR sounds Fender sounds, warwick sounds, Synth and classic full bass sounds.

B necks aren't an issue - they come on most if not all modern P basses. B width is 1 5/8" width at the nut... older P's have 1 3/4" and Jazzes have 1 1/2". It's not a big difference construction-wise, just means it tapers more at the headstock. However it alters tone a little and changes feel a lot.

The Line 6 Variax got mixed reviews it seems. It's good at doing just about everything, but it's not great. It's got tons of tones, etc, but apparently none are quite exact and the bass itself isn't built that well compared to basses in its price range.

Here's my pile drivingly-heavy advice: give yourself a vaca to teh nearest large instrument store that you think would carry all or most of these basses and play em all til ure fingers bleed.
If you want my opinion, Id say go with teh warwick because thats the route I went with and i love the warwick sound/feel.
Have fun lookin
-Alex

Yeah, I have been to a music store to do the same thing, although I had this jagged cut on my leg and when I played an insturment it reopened and bleed on one of the basses I was trying. Luckily they didn't blame me, I bet they were a afraid of a lawsuit. But I got a set of some nice GHS strings.

Also:

For the warwick.

The corvette and the corvette rockbass, the corvette looks all sweet and pimped out although the rockbass does have a finish. Is the difference between the rockbass and the corvette the same as fender and squire? Because I don't want to get screwed buying a bass that will lose its sustain and easily break. I want a long lasting bass.

Anyway, one of the greatest basses I've had the privilege of playing recently was a Lakland Skyline Bob Glaub in a store here in Portland, OR. It's a P-bass type, and it had the most amazing neck-feel and tone. Practically played itself, and sounded SWEET!!! I darn near bought the thing even though I went into the store hell-bent on getting a 5-string Jazz bass. It took a LOT of willpower to walk out of the store without it under my arm.

The Line 6 Variax got mixed reviews it seems. It's good at doing just about everything, but it's not great.

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There's no bad bass, only bad players. I own a Line 6 Variax and I find it great. That takes some time to make it sound like you want (the fretless sound only sings when you play near the bridge with the good settings). It sounds better when you play it loud. I'm not sure you can really try and judge this bass in a shop if you have just a few minutes and a headphone set to try it.

jenderfazz said:

It's got tons of tones, etc, but apparently none are quite exact

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Who cares? Buy a Jazz Bass if you want the exact JB tone. The Line 6 Variax has been made to offer many basses in one. It's not a ticket to win an imitation contest. On stage, I don't think anyone can say whether I use a true JB or a fake one.

jenderfazz said:

the bass itself isn't built that well compared to basses in its price range.

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Who said that? That's absolutely wrong. It may look cheap but it is not.

Fred (bored by all the wrong things said about the Variax Bass / Stop rumors!)

Sorry, just repeating what I've read. I did research on it, from Talkbass and other sites. Just pointing out that it's not an exact replica of each bass, and many who did enjoy the preamp (or whatever the electronics system is called) wish they could put it into a better built bass. No doubt, it's a useful bass to have and it can do everything relatively well. But if the audience can't tell if it's a real Jazz sound, the bassist often can. Just warning Canadarocksoy because some bassists are very picky with their tone... otherwise they wouldn't buy expensive pieces with custom electronics, etc. Not saying it's not worth buying.

Lakland is a good choice, too, but it might be out of your price range. If you can find one for a good price, a Bob Glaub sig might be good.

That's the problem. ;-) A lot of wrong things have been said on the subject by guys who quickly try the bass at the local retailer. This is a very unusual instrument that needs very special testing, not just "I plug it in and I play".

jenderfazz said:

Just pointing out that it's not an exact replica of each bass, and many who did enjoy the preamp (or whatever the electronics system is called) wish they could put it into a better built bass. No doubt, it's a useful bass to have and it can do everything relatively well. [...] Just warning Canadarocksoy because some bassists are very picky with their tone... otherwise they wouldn't buy expensive pieces with custom electronics, etc. Not saying it's not worth buying.

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I agree with you.

jenderfazz said:

But if the audience can't tell if it's a real Jazz sound, the bassist often can.

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Maybe, not sure. What's exactly the JB tone, for example ? All the basses we hear go through effects, amp, board... It's difficult to reproduce a sound without all the rig behind the bass.
And I never played for bassists but for my audience. Weird, isn't it ?

I am not worryed about effects, I have a boss ME-50B pedal that lets me do sooooo much. Jazz sound, hard fuzz sounds, distortion, delays, defretting, pitch control, the works. I am just really looking for a well built bass that has a pick guard, and is made with a good wood. I like the Line 6 bass the only thing is I think what I am paying for is more the effects side of it, so I am kind of turned off by that. Right now with my new High of a craze on more vintage models. I have seen some fenders that have some cool metal add ones around the bridge and pick ups. But again I think I could simply pick some hard ware up and pimp out my old one. Last night I went to guitar center and saw a couple Gibson model basses. I like the elite thunderbird and the explorer. But from what I am hearing here from the various posters is to look into Line 6, Fender, MusicMan, and Lakland. I will probably not come to my decision until I get to play a bunch of these models although first I just need a broad image of what to look into. Although if not that I think I will go to warmoth and make my own custom. Anyone hear of quality of the custom basses made at warmoth?

I think you would not be disappointed with the SR5. It's really not a one-trick pony and can be fattened up to get close to the P sound. I have always liked the American Fender Active P. It's got a great sound for a 4.